Gale in the Games
by Hermoine Nessie Hawthorne
Summary: Effie Trinket sticks her hand into the second glass ball, and pulls out a slip of paper.  "Gale Hawthorne" she reads in her Capitol accent.  The croud erupts in anger. I can't seem to get a grasp on what is happening. Gale is entered in the Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Anxious

I open my groggy eyes to the still dark room. I roll onto my side on the small cot and find that the space next to me is cold and empty. Prim must have had a bad dream and went to sleep with my mother in the middle of the night. Of course she did, today is the day of the reaping.

I roll out of bed and slip my feet into my old leather boots, then walk across the room and grab my forage bag and throw on my Dad's old hunting jacket.

The sun is still below the horizon and the sky grey as I walk out the door into District 12. My mother, my younger sister Prim, and I live in a part if the district called the Seam. It is the poorest part of town, filled with squat grey houses. Usually at this time of day the streets are filled with coal miners heading out for their morning shifts, but today they are empty. The reaping isn't until two, so most people are sleeping in, or at least trying to.

Our house is near the edge of the Seam, so I only have to pass a few houses before I get to the Meadow. There is an electrified fence with barbed wire on top that separates the Meadow from the woods, supposedly to keep large animals out. 'District 12, where you can safely starve to death.' That is why I take the risk to go into the woods and hunt. If I didn't, my family and I would have starved to death years ago. The only reason I can hunt is because my father taught me how, years ago before he was killed in the mine explosion. He knew how to make bows and arrows, so he used to take me into the woods to hunt with him. I got quite good, but not nearly as skilled as he was.

The fence around District12 is supposed to be electrified 24 hours a day, but are were lucky if we get a few hours of electricity each night, so most of the time it is safe. There are a few holes in the fence that I could use to get through, but most days I use the one by the meadow. It was close to my house and people rarely came by here, so it was unlikely I will be seen.

Just as a precaution, I listen for the humming of electricity. It is silent, so I get to my hands and knees and push my bag through the hole in the fence. Then I crawl through, and come up in the forest. This is the only place where I can actually speak my mind. And waiting for me here is the one person who I can be myself with. Gale. Just thinking about him and I feel my pace begin to quicken. I climb the hill to our place, a rock ledge overlooking the valley. Seeing Gale sitting there makes the corners of my mouth lift up in a smile. I usually don't smile much, unless I'm in the woods with Gale.

"Hey Catnip!" says Gale. My name is actually Katniss, but Gale always calls me by my nickname. When we first met, I'd told him my name so quietly he'd thought I'd said Catnip. So he's called me that ever since.

"Look what I shot" he says as he holds up a loaf of bread with an arrow through it, and I laugh. Real bakers bread, not just the flat tasteless stuff we make at home with our grain rations. We only eat bread like this on special occasions. "Mmmm, still warm." I say. "What did it cost you?"

"Just a squirrel. Think the old bakers feeling a little more giving today." Gale says "He even wished me luck."

"I guess we all feel a little more close to each other today." I said as I took out the little ball of cheese from Proms goat. "Prim left us cheese.

"It looks like we'll be eating like Capitol people today!" Gale said as his expression brightens. "Happy Hunger Games!" he says in Effie Trinket's, District 12's Capitol representative for the Hunger games, too-happy tone and thick capitol accent. He picked a few berries from the bushes around us, "And may the odds.." He tosses one towards me, and I catch it in my mouth.

"Be ever in your favor!" I finish in the same capitol accent. The capitol accent is so odd sounding, anything we say in it sounds funny. We are joking around about the Capitol today because we are trying to mask how we both truly feel…terrified.

Gale pulls out his knife and begins slicing the bread, as I watch him. I think about how much we look alike; straight black hair, olive skin, and grey eyes. We could be siblings. But then again nearly everyone in the Seam looks like this. Except my mother and Prim. But that's because my mother was born into the small merchant class of our district. Her parents ran an apothecary shop in the nicer part of the district. My father met my mother because he would sometimes gather medicinal herbs on his hunts and sell them to the shop to be made into medicine. My mother truly loved my father; she had to in order to leave her nice life to move into the Seam. I try to remember that and forgive her, for my father's sake, for just sitting and watching as her children starved. But truthfully, I am not the forgiving type.

Gale and I sit back in our little nook in the rocks, eating berries, goat cheese, and fresh bread. This moment would be perfect, if today was any other day. But instead, there is an air of tension surrounding us, all because we have to be standing in the square at two o'clock for the Reaping.

We decide to go down to the lake and fish, to get food for tonight's supper. Hopefully we will be able to celebrate the fact that no one in our families got chosen during the Reaping. I don't want to imagine the other possibility.

It turns out to be a pretty good day fishing. By late morning we have a dozen fish, a sack of greens, and a gallon of strawberries from a patch I found a few years ago. On our way home we stop by the Hob, or the black market for our district. We trade some of the fish for bread and salt, and half the greens for some paraffin. After we're done trading at the hob, we go to the back door of the mayor's house to trade half the strawberries.

Madge, the mayor's daughter is the one that comes to the door. She's in my grade at school, and I guess she's not too bad. She's quiet, like me. Neither of us really have any other friends our age, so we usually end up sitting together at lunch and assemblies and stuff like that. Today she's wearing a beautiful, expensive white dress, and she has a pink ribbon in her hair. She's all dressed up for the Reaping.

"Pretty dress." Gale says. Madge glares at him, trying to tell if it was an actual compliment or if he's just being an ass. The dress really _is _pretty, but she wouldn't ordinarily be wearing it. She half-smiles and says "Well if I end up going to the Capitol I want to look nice, right?"

"Don't be stupid. You're not going to the Capitol." Gale says angrily. "What can you have, five entries? I had six the first year I was eligible."

"Don't be mean, it's not her fault." I say.

"You're right, it's no one's fault. That's just the way it is." he says.

Madge's face is like stone. She hands the money for the berries to me. "Good luck Katniss."

"You too" I say as the door closes.

We walk towards the Seam, neither of us speaking. I'm not happy about how Gale was acting towards Madge, but he is right. The system for how they choose the Tributes is unfair. When you're twelve, your name gets entered once. When you're thirteen, it's entered twice, and so on. But here's the unfair part; if you're poor and starving like us, you can apply for tesserae. In exchange for a meager year's supply of oil and grain for one person, your name is entered another time. You can do this for each of your family members, too. So when I was twelve, my name was already entered four times. Now that I am sixteen, my name will be entered twenty times. Gale, being eighteen and feeding a family of five for seven years, will have his name entered forty-two times.

This is why Gale was angry. There is a very small chance that someone like Madge will be reaped, compared to people like Gale and I. It's not impossible, but very unlikely. Gale knows that he shouldn't be angry with Madge, it isn't her fault. It's the capitol's. But Gale has never been good at controlling his anger. Some days, in the woods, I listen to his rant about the capitol for hours. He thinks that the tesserae is just another way for the Capitol to divide us among ourselves, the poor against those who can always count on a meal.

We get near our homes, and divide our food. We each get two fish, a quart of strawberries, a few loaves of bread, some paraffin, salt, and a little bit of money.

"I'll see you in the square." I say.

"Wear something pretty." he replies flatly.

At home, I see that my mother and sister are already dressed and ready to go. My mother is wearing a nice dress from her apothecary days, and Prim is wearing my first reaping outfit. It's a bit big on her, and she's having trouble keeping the blouse tucked in at the back. I quickly bathe and wash my hair. When I get out, I find one of my mother's nice dresses laying on my bed with a pair of matching shoes.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yes" she says. "Lets put your hair up, too." She braids it up on top of my head. When I look in our old, cracked mirror, I can hardly recognize myself.

"Wow, you look beautiful." Prim says.

"Yeah, but nothing like myself." I say. I hug her, and try to comfort her. I know she is nervous. This is her first reaping. But at least she's only entered once, I wouldn't let her take out any tesserae. Still, she's nervous for me, thinking that the unthinkable might happen.

"Tuck your tail in, little duck." I say to her as I smooth her blouse back in place.

"Quack." she says as she giggles softly.

I laugh lightly, too. "Come on, let's eat."

We decide to leave the fish, greens, and strawberries for supper, and instead eat some rough bread made from tesserae grain and milk from Prim's goat. None of us have much of an appetite though.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took me awhile to update. I'll probably by kina slow at that. Right now I'm working on this instead of writing an essay for school that's due tomorrow. I think I'm just procrastinating. Hope you like it!**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Suzanne Collins wrote!

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><p><strong>C<strong>hapter2: The Reaping

We made our way to the town square, one of the only places in the district that could actually feel happy at times. But today, even with all of the Capital banners plastered on the store fronts, the mood emanating from it was anything but happy. I watch as people file in silently and sign in. This is a good opportunity for the Capitol to keep tabs on the District's population. Prim and I walk over to the roped off areas in the middle of the square for 12-18 year olds, while our mother goes to stand at the perimeter with all of the other children's family members.

There are other people there, too. Those who don't have any family members that are eligible for reaping, some who are taking bets on what two names will be drawn today. Most people don't deal with them, because those same people are often informers. But who hasn't broken the law? Technically I could be shot on a daily basis for hunting, but at least I am protected by the appetites of those in charge. And anyway, Gale and I agree that if we had to choose between starving to death and a bullet to the head, the bullet would be much quicker.

The square is quickly filling up with District 12's eight thousand residents. The square is large, but not quite big enough to hold that many people. It is getting claustrophobic. I take my place with all the other female 16s, while Prim takes her place with the other 12s. There is a small stage at the front of the square, with three chairs and a podium on it. Two of the chairs are filled with Madge's father, mayor Undersee, and Effie Trinktet, District 12's escort. The third chair is empty, and both the mayor and Effie look a little worried about the apparent absence.

I look over at Gale, standing with the other 18 year old males. His face is hard and expressionless, but I know him too well. I can see the worry and fear in his eyes, and can tell that his face is just a mask. I suddenly get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, imagining what it would be like if he was reaped. I don't know what I would do. It's getting harder for me to breathe, and it doesn't help that I start to think about how the odds are definitely NOT in our favor this year. I look up at the two glass spheres on the stage, each filled with the names of the children of the district. I look at the one on the left, and thought about how 42 of the slips are Gales. In the sphere on the right, 20 of the slips have Katniss Everdeen written on them in neat handwriting. With all of the tessera we have to take to feed our family, the odds are pretty heavily stacked against us, especially Gale. But I never let Prim take out any tessera, so thankfully only one of the hundreds of slips has her name on it.

As soon as the town clock strikes two, the mayor steps up onto the. He begins to read a story about the history of Panem, the same one that is read every year. He drones on and on about some place called North America, then something about the Dark Days and how the 13 districts rebelled and were defeated, then finally gets to the part at the end about the Hunger Games.

The rules for the games are very simple. As a punishment for the uprising of the districts in the past, every year each district must provide one girl and one boy, tributes, to participate in them. The 24 tributes will be trapped in a large outdoor arena, and will be forced to fight to the death. The last one standing wins. This, taking our children and forcing them to murder each other as we watch, is just the Capitols way of rubbing in our faces the fact that we are so completely at their mercy.

Then the mayor reads the list of our district's past victors. In the entire 73 years of the games, we have had exactly two. One of which is now dead, the other is named Haymitch Abernathy. Just as the mayor reads off his name, a paunchy, middle-aged man staggers onto the stage, and collapses in the third chair. He is drunk. Extremely. The crowd responds with light applause, but he seems to be very confused. He attempts to hug Effie Trinket, and she barely manages to fend it off.

The mayor looks distressed. Well he has right to be. This is all being televised live, so right now District 12 is the laughing stock of the nation. He tries to get the ceremony back on track by introducing Effie Trinket. Bright and bubbly, she trots onto the stage and says her signature line, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!"

Her hot pink hair must be a wig, because the curls have shifted over slightly since the hug from Haymitch. She talks about what an honor it is to be here today, but we all know it's a lie. She's just waiting to get promoted to a better district with real victors who aren't drunks that molest you in front of the entire nation.

I spot Gale through the crowd, looking at me with a shadow of a smile. As far as reapings go, at least this one has some entertainment factor. But seeing his face makes me once again think of his forty-two slips, and how the odds are not in his favor. He must be thinking the same thing about me, because his face darkens and he turns away. "There are still thousands of slips." I whisper, hoping he could hear me.

It's time for the drawing now. "Ok, ladies first!" Effie shrieked in her all too cheery voice. She shoved her hand into one of the large glass bowls and pulled out a single slip of paper.

All I'm thinking is _Please don't be me. Please don't be me. _

She walks back over to the podium, and smoothes out the crumpled piece of paper. And it's not me.

It's Primrose Everdeen

I am trying to remember how to breathe, how to speak, but I am unable to as the name bounces around in my skull. I think I start fall, but a boy from the Seam catches me. There must be some mistake. This can't be happening. Prim only had one piece of paper out of the thousands! I'd done everything I could to protect her, but it wasn't enough. It didn't matter. All it took was one slip. One slip and our lives changed forever.

Somewhere far away I think I hear the crowd murmuring unhappily, as they always do when a 12-year old gets chosen. But then I see her. The blood drained from her face, hands clenched in fists at her sides, walking with small steps up toward the stage. She passes me, and I see that the back of her blouse has become untucked again. It's that little detail that brings me back to myself again.

"Prim!" the cry escapes my throat, and sounds like I'm being strangled. My muscles begin to move again. "Prim!" I don't need to push through the crowd, the other kids get out of my way, forming a path up to the stage. I reach her just before she mounts the steps, and push her behind me in one fluid motion.

"Volunteer!" I gasped. "I volunteer"

There's some confusion on the stage, as our district hasn't had a volunteer in decades and the protocol has become rusty. But they quickly compose themselves.

"Lovely!" says Effie Trinket. "I am sorry though, I believe that there is the small matter of introducing the reaping winner and then asking for volunteers, and if one does come forth then we, um…" she trails off, unsure of the protocols herself.

"What does it matter?" says the mayor, while looking at me with a pained expression. He doesn't know me really, but he does recognize me as the girl who sells him strawberries and is his daughter's friend. "What does it matter?" he repeats gruffly. "Let her come forward."

Prim is hysterically screaming from behind me. She's wrapped her tiny little arms around my legs, unwilling to let go. "No, Katniss! No! You can't go!"

"Prim let go." I say harsher than I usually speak to her, because this is upsetting me, and I don't want to break down and cry. When they televise the reapings tonight, everyone will notice my tears and I won't have any sponsers, and I will be marked as an easy target. A weakling. I won't give anyone that satisfaction. "Let go!" I say again.

I feel someone strong pulling her from my back, and turn and see Gale holding a squirming Prim in his arms. "Up you go, Catnip," he says in a voice I can tell he is trying to keep steady, and then carries Prim off towards my mother. I finally work up enough courage to climb the steps.

"Well bravo!" gushes Effie. "That's the spirit of the games!" You can tell she's just glad to finally have a district with a little action in it. "What's your name, young lady?"

I swallow hard, and respond with "Katniss Everdeen."

"I bet my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal the spotlight, do we? Come on everybody! Let's give a big round of applause to our newest tribute!" Effie trills.

I give credit to the people of my district, for not one of them claps. Possibly because they all know me from the Hob, or knew my father, or have met Prim, who no one can help but loving. I stand there unmoving while they take part in the boldest form of dissent they can manage, silence. It said we do not agree, we do not condone, all of this is wrong, without really making a sound.

Then something I wasn't expecting happens. Almost every person in the crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and hold it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture in our district, occasionally seen at funerals, that means thanks, admiration, and most of all, goodbye to someone you love.

Now I am on the verge of tears. But fortunately Haymitch chooses this moment to come stumbling across the stage to congratulate me. "Look at her. Look at this one!" he yells, throwing his arm around my shoulders. "I like her!" His breath reeks of liquor and you can tell it's been awhile since he's bathed. "Lots of…spunk!" he says triumphantly. "More than you!" he lets go of me and heads for the front of the stage. "More than you!" he shouts, pointing straight at the camera. I can't tell if he is addressing the audience or if he is so drunk he may actually be insulting the Capitol. I'll never know, because as he opens his mouth to continue, he plummets of the stage and gets knocked out.

He is taken away on a stretcher, and Effie attempts to get the ball rolling again. "What an exciting day!" she trills as she tries to straighten her wig. "But more excitement to come! It's time to choose our boy tribute!" She crosses to the ball that contains the boys' names and grabs the first slip she encounters, then zips back to the podium. I don't even have time to wish for Gale's safety before it's too late.

"Gale Hawthorne" she reads.

This time, instead of silence, there is a collective gasp from the audience. Then slowly, the silence breaks, and shouts erupt. The crowd couldn't contain their anger anymore. Many of them knew that with both Gale and I gone, our families would surely starve. The others just joined in on the chaos once it had begun. I think shots were fired into the air by the peace keepers to quiet the crowd, but I wasn't paying any attention to that. My eyes were locked on Gale, and my mouth was open in shock and horror.

"No" I whispered under my breath. I saw him walk out into the isle, with his little brother Rory chasing after him. He picked him up and set him back near his family. He bent down and said something to him that I couldn't hear. "Gale Hawthorne, please come up!" Effie said again, now getting visibly frazzled by the commotion. I saw him stand and turn. He locked eyes with me, then began walking up towards the stage.

It finally hit me. Gale and I were both going to be in the games, and we were probably both going to die. That meant that both of our families would also most likely die, if we weren't there to provide for them. Everything I worked so hard to protect for years was all coming crashing down in one day. I started getting nauseous. But then Gale was standing by my side, and I was able to keep a straight face. I felt safe, as long as we were together.

"I present, this year's tributes!" Effie hurriedly said, speeding up the ceremony to prevent more disturbances. The mayor quickly rattles off the Treaty of Treason like he does every year. When he is finished, he motions for Gale and I to shake hands. He takes mine in his and gives it a reassuring squeeze. We take one last look at our friends, family, neighbors, and the only life we have ever known, before turning our backs on it and walking away.

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><p><strong>AN: Wow this chapter was really long! Sorry if these first two chapters were really boring, but I pretty much just wrote what was in the book. It'll be different from now on, promise!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys! I am soooooo sorry it's taken soooooooo long to update! I've just been really busy and kinda had writers block. I think I'm gonna try to keep going with this story though, but it may be a little while between updates. Sorry this one's so short, I just wanted to get something up before the 60 day life was up. Thanks for sticking with me, hope you like it!**

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><p><strong>C<strong>hapter 3: Goodbyes

As soon as the ceremony comes to a close, Gale and I are whisked away by a group of Peacekeepers to the Justice Building. They lead us along a long hallway, to two doors that I am guessing are the rooms where we will say our goodbyes. Gale's grey eyes lock onto mine for a second, and gives my hand one last squeeze before we turn towards our rooms. I walk through the door, and a Peacekeeper shuts and locks it behind me. I guess Tributes have tried to escape in the past, but I would never be stupid enough to try it.

I turn and face the room. It is the richest place I have ever seen. The floor is covered in a thick, deep carpets, and a velvet couch and chairs are set up in a u shape. When I sit on the couch I can't help running my fingers through it. It helps to calm me as I prepare for the next hour; the last time I will be allowed to see my family.

My first visitors are Prim and my mother. Right away Prim runs into my outstretched arms, and hugs me tight. She sobs into my shirt until her tears finally subside. Seeing her like this breaks my heart, but I manage to hold myself together. I want her to remember me being strong, and not have her last real memory of me tainted with tears. She looks up into my eyes, and I wipe away a lingering tear from her cheek.

I know I only have a short amount of time left with my family, so I begin talking quickly. "Prim, you have to be strong without me. Try to find whatever food you can, you know what plants are edible. Everyone loves you Prim, they won't let you starve." I don't know if that last sentence is entirely true; people do love Prim and will take pity on her, but when people's own families are starving at home, their charity may not extend very far.

I turn to my mother and begin talking in a more stern tone. "Mom, you have to take care of Prim. You can't go away again, I'm not here to us this time. She can't fend for herself, you have to protect her. You're her mother, don't let her starve." By now I'm standing up, with both of my hands firmly grasped onto her shoulders. My voice is gradually getting louder as I try to get her to understand. "You'll need to get a job, so you can get money for food. Maybe you can start an apothecary business from our house, or anything else that will get money to keep her fed. You and the Hawthornes should stick together, help each other out. You have to promise to me that you won't let her starve." Her face looks horrified; shock, confusion, anger, and sadness are clearly displayed on it. Her mouth hangs slightly agape, and she doesn't answer. "Mom, please. Do this for Prim, do this for me. You have to, please." I'm begging now, hoping it will get through her shell. "I...I promise." She stutters in a hoarse voice.

I feel a tugging on the sleeve of my shirt, and look down to see Prim's big blue eyes staring up at me. "Katniss, promise me you'll try to win. Promise you'll do everything you can to come back to us." She pleads with her words and her eyes. But I can't promise her that, not when I'm going into the arena with my best friend. "You know I can't promise you that Prim. But I will promise you one thing; I will do everything in my power to see to it that District 12 has a winner this year."

Just then a Peacekeeper comes in and tells us our time is up. I quickly hug my mother and Prim, whose new tears once again stain my shirt, and say my final goodbyes. Then they are pulled out of the room, Prim screaming my name and trying to resist, but I know it's a futile. I get one final glimpse of the back of her head, knowing that that is probably the last time I will ever see her beautiful golden hair.

After they leave, my next visitors come in. It is Gale's family, and I can tell by his little sister Posy's red, puffy eyes that they had just come from his room. His mother steps forward first. "Katniss," she says in a voice that sounds tired and defeated, like she had already given up all hope that she would see her son again, "I...I just wanted to say thank you for all you have done for my family. And I am just thankful that you two will have each other when you go into this." Posy runs forward, crying again, and hugs my leg. Her mother comes forward and pries her off. "Goodbye Katniss." she says, as she gently puts one hand on my shoulder, then turns around and walks out the door with Posy. Her brothers, Vick and Rory, quietly say goodbye, then follow their mother out the door. "Goodbye" I whisper in response, knowing they can't hear me.


End file.
